This past weekend, F1 returned to the illustrious principality of Monte Carlo, home of the biggest spectacle on the F1 calendar, the Monaco Grand Prix. Entering its 72nd Grand Prix held on the grand streets, Monaco has been the host for some of the most historic races in F1 history: the victory of Stirling Moss in a highly underpowered Lotus in ’61, a wild ride to victory for Riccardo Patrese in ’86, the first of many wins, the famous crash whilst leading from Ayrton Senna in ’88, and another Senna masterclass during his last-lap defensive drive against Nigel Mansell in ’92.
This weekend, fans were speculating about a phenomenal race weekend, and hoped to see some closer racing with the 2026 regulations bringing smaller cars to the table and the possibility of more overtakes. However, most know that qualifying position is the key component to a successful weekend on the streets of Monaco, and many were waiting to see how things would turn out. Would Mercedes continue their streak of dominance? Would Ferrari come back from a string of bad luck to the top step of the podium? Most importantly, would Red Bull prove to be the car to beat from an aero perspective?
Qualifying
It was a pleasant surprise to see the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc top the times in Q1, with an even bigger surprise of Max Verstappen and his Red Bull in close pursuit. Not too far behind was the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, chasing another pole position and to secure another victory to continue his streak. Lando Norris was in the mix in P4 exiting Q1, and many were surprised to see the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg confidently sitting in P6. One not-so-pleasant surprise was the struggle of George Russell in the other Mercedes, sitting in P8.
Q2 had more in the tank, as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull seemed to come to life, setting a phenomenal 1:12.499 with the Mercedes of Antonelli (+0.205) behind in P2, and the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar (+0.223) behind in P3. It seemed to be the rebirth of Red Bull; they’ve been known as the team to beat when it comes to Monaco and their consistent aero advantage, but the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton were in the mix.
The lads put on a show in Q3, with Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen, and Antonelli fighting for the first spot on the grid. Hamilton set the fastest time and maintained it for a couple of laps, until Antonelli’s Mercedes crossed the line to clear Hamilton by over two-tenths of a second. Seconds later, Verstappen crossed the line, missing P2 by a frustrating one-thousandth of a second (+0.001). The hometown hero, Charles Leclerc, set a scorcher of a lap to bring his car across the line and take P1. Moments later, Max Verstappen would sail over the start/finish line and clear Leclerc by over two and a half tenths to gain P1, but less than one minute later, Antonelli would cross the line to take the front spot on the grid by a minuscule four-hundredths of a second (+0.043). After an exciting qualifying, the standings were: Antonelli P1, Verstappen P2, Hamilton P3, Leclerc P4, Hadjar P5, Russell P6, Oscar Piastri a tough P7, Lando Norris P8, Pierre Gasly P9, and Liam Lawson rounding it out with P10.
Race
Excitement is an understatement. With all cars lined up, it was lights out — and away most of them went. After Max Verstappen encountered power unit issues right off the line, he retired after lap one, giving Antonelli the opportunity to pull away right off the bat and hand P2 to Hamilton; a seven-time champion on the hunt.
Lap after lap, we saw action on many parts of the circuit: Kimi Antonelli pulling an impressive 20-second lead; Lewis Hamilton doing his best to charge forward whilst defending against his teammate, Charles Leclerc; Isack Hadjar battling against George Russell. But the biggest battle of all, for some reason, was the pit lane speed radar. There were infringements and penalties flying in all directions: Hamilton, Russell, Gasly, Piastri, Colapinto, all for the same issue, leading many to question whether there were issues from the FIA side of things. Alas, nothing was done to solve it, and many had to serve penalties—either a drive-through penalty, where a driver has to drive the entire length of the pit lane and serve time that way, or a five-second penalty, where a driver has to sit in their pit stall for five seconds before the team can begin working on the car.
This would be one of many issues for George Russell, as his team began to work on the car before he served his full penalty allotment, meaning he would be penalized again for non-completion of a penalty. The race stayed at a standstill in terms of position for quite some time, until the yellow flag was brought out after Lance Stroll hit the barriers on the entry to Turn 18—a very rare and unusual place to crash. After examination, many saw the racing surface beginning to crumble, creating a lot of detritus on the track, which is believed to be the reason for Stroll’s crash. This would also be a sign of events to come; we just didn’t know it.
After an extensive yellow flag under the safety car, we were back underway, Antonelli being chased by the red Ferrari of Hamilton. Suddenly, we saw the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in the barriers in the exact same spot as Stroll, his left front tire covered in debris from the track, causing his car to understeer and drive into the barriers at 47 mph. The hometown hero was out of the Monaco Grand Prix after a second slow-speed incident, causing disappointment for many, and an end to the Grand Prix for Charles Leclerc.
It’s too bad that it took Leclerc crashing to bring out the red flag and attempt to fix the crumbling racetrack to prevent further crashes, but that’s racing sometimes. Drivers had the opportunity to relax, collect themselves, and even make some slight changes regarding tires, but for others, it meant more penalties and infringements: red flag infringements, safety car infringements, and the victims were the same as it’s been all day: Russell and Gasly, with a threat thrown towards the man in P3, Isack Hadjar. After the red flag, drivers were sent on a formation lap and told to line up on the grid for a standing start; the race to the checkered flag was on.
Antonelli took off like a rocket, with Hamilton right on his tail. It was the rookie vs. the veteran, the new blood vs. the seven-time champion. Antonelli managed to keep a cool head and began to pull away, opening the same gap he had all race long, finishing P1 with Hamilton sitting in a comfortable P2. It’s safe to say everyone was gutted for Pierre Gasly — a spectacular race weekend and a P3 finish would prove short-lived due to his penalties, dropping him down to a still-impressive P7. Due to Gasly’s penalty, Isack Hadjar took the last step on the podium after a hard drive all weekend and, having spoken about power unit concerns throughout the weekend, it was an impressive display from him to end the weekend. To round out the top 10, Oscar Piastri came back to finish P4. An intense race and impressive drive from the Racing Bulls saw Liam Lawson in P5 with Arvid Lindblad in P6, Alex Albon in P8, Nico Hulkenberg in the points for Audi in P9, and Esteban Ocon and his Haas in P10.
That’s five race wins in a row for Kimi Antonelli, his first in Monaco, and momentum we don’t see ending any time soon. With Ferrari getting faster with each race, and other teams like Red Bull and McLaren in their wake, this season could become one of the most exciting we’ve seen in years. With the next race this coming weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, we’re in for a fantastic race; sweeping corners, long straights, and a technical third sector, there’s no telling who will be on top, or who’s bringing what in terms of power vs. aero.
